S03.E10: Off The Tit

[formerlyfreedom]

Billy pressures the family to give him what he's owed; Craig has a surprise meeting that makes him reconsider his future; Smurf comes to the boys with a proposal as they struggle to hold onto the freedom they had when she was in jail.

 

[hookedontv]

It’s taken me all this time to finally place the actor who plays Adrian...He played the kid, Lucious, in the movie Gladiator with Russel Crowe. That’s my big revelation so far. 

[nekilarose]

Ha! This title is such a damn oxymoron! One by one, they all fell back in line.....except J. I mean, I knew Smurf had them by the apron strings, but gotdamn that was hard to watch. Billy was playing with their head, but that's nothing compared to how locked they're in with Smurf.

 

Oh and in case I haven't said it in the last 5 min: Fuck you, Billy.

[Laurie4H]

This is a great show.  Such great casting and chemistry among the actors.  I wish more people knew about it.  I guess it’s getting somewhat decent ratings considering it’s renewed for a 4th season.  It almost seemed like Billy felt guilty at the end as he left the bar with the money but then he left that note.....I wonder if he is gone or if Daren will get it back.

[Ohwell]

I only started watching this a few episodes ago, but the way Smurf calls her sons "baby" sounds exactly the way Gemma would say it to her son Jax on Sons of Anarchy, along with slinking up to them as they say it.  Gemma creeped me out, and now Smurf, and I don't know why the writers like for them to do this. 

Just disgusting, and I'm not even sure I can watch any more of this.

[fellini]

Marcos and Billy both get what they deserve an ass whooping. lol. It looks like Lucy and Smurf are going to meet up.

[Chick2Chic]

This is such a good ep. It has energy, things move forward, and there are good character moments.

More thoughts tomorrow but Billy is such trash. I knew he was going to rip Deran off. There were too many scenes of Deran opening the safe or pulling cash from the register in Billy's presence.

I really enjoyed the scene of Deran going to Adrian to talk about his feelings and for comfort. That was a sweet moment. ❤

Craig was not as dumb this ep but hooking up with Frankie is going to be trouble. I wonder if Renn is being honest about paternity. And Billy isn't necessarily wrong about Craig being one needle away from just like him. Billy is just more of a self-centered, mean asshole compared to Craig but they both spend life more strung out than not. 

I understand Pope is frantic about Lena but that outburst scene at child services really hurt him. 

I laughed at Billy threatening J. Please. Billy has no clue what make J tick but it was funny watching Billy think he did.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Chick2Chic
fixed something.

[SuzieQ]

51 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I only started watching this a few episodes ago, but the way Smurf calls her sons "baby" sounds exactly the way Gemma would say it to her son Jax on Sons of Anarchy, along with slinking up to them as they say it.

Smurf is even worse than Gemma, if that's possible!

 

So much going on with this episode. I actually watched it twice!  I think Craig is the daddy and Renn got pissed off when he asked.  Also, he wants to be.  I know he can be as dumb as a door knob, but he might be thinking there's more to life than coke, surfing and sex.

The rat scene made me gag.  As soon as I saw the peanut butter I just knew.  Gross!!

Felt really bad for Deran.  Billy stealing the money just broke him.

[rhys]

Yep, Billy continues to be scum. First he trades his toddler for $600 & a bag of crack ? Now he steals from his kid. What a dirtbag. Buh bye.

will Pope park himself outside that foster house? Not sure how smart that was to show him where Lena was, Smurf.

looks like J is taking a page out of the Walter White playbook on how to launder money.

[anonymiss]

Even Craig wouldn't have been dumb enough to make his $afe password his birthday. 

[Raja]

28 minutes ago, rhys said:

Yep, Billy continues to be scum. First he trades his toddler for $600 & a bag of crack ? Now he steals from his kid. What a dirtbag. Buh bye.

will Pope park himself outside that foster house? Not sure how smart that was to show him where Lena was, Smurf.

looks like J is taking a page out of the Walter White playbook on how to launder money.

I think Smurf may have gotten control of Pope, temporarily. Maybe J watched the Breaking Bad? But I am wondering about bowling alley guy, some 19 year old comes up with almost a million and he is full steam ahead. He must have dealt with Smurf before.

1 hour ago, Chick2Chic said:

This is such a good ep. It has energy, things move forward, and there are good character moments.

More thoughts tomorrow but Billy is such trash. I knew he was going to rip Deran off. There were too many scenes of Deran opening the safe or pulling cash from the register in Billy's presence.

I really enjoyed the scene of Deran going to Adrian to talk about his feelings and for comfort. That was a sweet moment. ❤

Craig was not as dumb this ep but hooking up with Frankie is going to be trouble. I wonder if Renn is being honest about paternity. And Billy isn't necessarily wrong about Craig being one needle away from just like him. Billy is just more of a self-centered, mean asshole compared to Craig but they both spend life more strung out than not. 

I understand Pope is frantic about Lena but that outburst scene at child services really hurt him. 

I laughed at Billy threatening J. Please. Billy has no clue what make J tick but it was funny watching Billy think he did.

 

I am with the folks who think Ren got upset when Craig asked if she slept around like he does. Forget J when Billy started talking to Pope I am sure everybody took a deep breathe waiting for the shark to bite him.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Raja

[showme]

Wow, this is not going to end well. Smurf and Lucy will be at war, I wonder who would end up hurt or even dead?

Why doesn't Pope adopt Lena legally? That is a surefire way to keep her from the paws of Child Services.

[JFParnell]

Smurf makes my skin craaaaawwwwl. It kind of sucks to know that she's a top-billed person -- we know she's never going to, you know, oh what's the word, die a  horrible and well-deserved death. lol.

They finally stopped showing Billy as a quasi-comic-relief character this ep. (And it was still almost a little funny watching Pope tune him up; maybe a little anyway?) But trying to rough up J, stealing Deran's cash (thanks, upthread, to the person who noted the birthday was the combo -- I missed that; I'm as dumb as Craig). Are he and Frankie off the show now? Methinks we'll hear from them again, after Billy puts all his cash in his veins.

J wants to be the new Smurf -- lining up new ways to clean the boys' cash. But nothing short of killing her will keep Smurf in line -- does J have that in him? I actually think he has it in him to try! (Which, if it happens, will fail -- for reasons above; Ellen Barkin, top billing. I wonder if J the character knows that. Hmm, probably not. lol)

Pope is one tormented soul! Good scene in the DCFS cubicle farm. So I guess he's not even a suspect anymore in that string of 40 banks he robbed in like one day??

So the mask is fully pulled away on Lucy! She's gonna be a tad pissed off when she finds out about Marco (yeeeeow!! that was brutal -- and which one of Pete's goons had the job of rounding up the rats to put in that tiny cage?? Probably lowest man in the gang). They seem tougher than the surfing stealing Codys. Trouble ahead... stay tuned.

[Chick2Chic]

6 hours ago, showme said:

Why doesn't Pope adopt Lena legally? That is a surefire way to keep her from the paws of Child Services.

Didn't Pope spend time in prison? I doubt he can adopt as a convicted felon (tho I could be wrong on California law). Plus he has mental health issues.

[Novel8]

That scene with Billy and Deran was so predictable. He opens the safe up in front of Billy and if i am not mistaken, as he walked out of the room, he left the safe door open. Liked to know what that note said. It may not be too bad for Deran, after all, he could always claim Billy's share of the loot. Can't believe he was sadden by the lost money or the lost father figure again. Speaking of Daren and Adrian...can't understand their relationship at all. There seems to be no jealousy on Adrian's part and Deran's interest in the Nurse. As for Pope, i am just sick of his brooding over Lena....It just drags the show.

Was that rat scene done by CGI? First, i thought Smurf was going to castrate the guy, but when i saw her opening the jar of peanut butter, i knew what was coming.

[Chaos Theory]

13 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I only started watching this a few episodes ago, but the way Smurf calls her sons "baby" sounds exactly the way Gemma would say it to her son Jax on Sons of Anarchy, along with slinking up to them as they say it.  Gemma creeped me out, and now Smurf, and I don't know why the writers like for them to do this. 

Just disgusting, and I'm not even sure I can watch any more of this.

Then I would definitely not recommend watching the first season.  There was a particular scene with Craig when he came crashing into the kitchen buck naked after a night of dubachury and Smurf kissed him smack on the lips and thanked him for a Birthday present he hadn’t gotten her.  

There has always been a subtle incest vibe.  It’s how she controls the boys.  I don’t think she has ever had  sex with them but they do love her just as much as they hate her.  

Its why they will never really be....off the tit.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[Chick2Chic]

57 minutes ago, Novel8 said:

Liked to know what that note said.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Craig was so cute trying to fix things with Linc for Deran. Too bad Deran couldn't give a crap. Linc can do better.

Frankie either looked pregnant during that kitchen scene with Smurf and Billy or she had a big dinner the night before. Has that much time passed or could she already have been knocked up when she and Billy arrived at the Codys' place? Neither Billy nor Smurf seemed to be too fazed by her appearance though so maybe not.

Poor Pope. He's trying to do the right thing by Lena but he's no match for government bureaucracy. I'm glad Smurf helped him realize that Lena is so much better off with her foster family.

First lesson of the day: do not cross Smurf. Second lesson of day: rats love nuts, both peanut and human!

Billy really is toxic. I'm amazed someone hasn't killed him already but odds are the drugs will do it eventually. Oh well, they should've listened to Smurf when she told them early on to get rid of Billy. I almost feel sorry for Deran. He got caught up in a little boy's dream.

Quote

hooking up with Frankie is going to be trouble.

For sure. He could tell that she looks like she might be pregnant, right? Otherwise I could see her trying to pin a kid on his dumb ass so she'd have a ready source of income for the next 18 years or so. Or at least until Smurf got a DNA test. Meanwhile, he's likely got an actual bun in someone else's oven. What a mess.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Joimiaroxeu

[iMonrey]

I vote Craig for MVP this episode. I don't think it did much good trying to talk to Linc but the fact that he made the effort shows how much he cares about Deran. Although that may have just been a convenient plot point to get him to the hospital so he'd run into Renn. But then again, I was glad he didn't fall for Billy's crap and take him to the storage locker. I was afraid he'd be just dumb enough to do that for a second there. 

Deran was the dumb one, opening the damn safe right in front of him. I don't believe Billy actually remembers Daren's birthday either. He probably had to ask Smurf or the bartender. 

It was a little strange that Renn was just sitting outside in her car. Not sure if she was deliberately waiting for Craig or not. Yeah he's definitely the baby daddy. Good grief, imagine having Craig as your father.

I'm not sure what to make of Smurf taking Pope to that house where Lena supposedly was. Was she suggesting he steal her back from there? Or was she just trying to reassure him she was in a good place? If the latter it could be a big lie. I don't think Lena would necessarily go straight to some upscale home, it seems more likely she'd go to some kind of group home first. Poor kid.

How can an 18-year old kid buy some 900K business with cash? Wouldn't that raise a few eyebrows somewhere? Where the hell does someone like J supposedly get that kind of money? And he doesn't even have that much as far as I know - his take from the plane heist was only about 150K. 

Quote

The rat scene made me gag.  As soon as I saw the peanut butter I just knew.  Gross!!

I thought maybe they were going to bring out a pit bull or a doberman - I wasn't expecting rats. Yikes.

In a war between Lucy and Smurf there can be only one winner and it's not Lucy. Marco might end up being the "lucky" one.

[Gsallo]

Solid episode, hopefully it continues. You could tell Pope was boiling over this season, (losing baz/lena)and I enjoyed him beating the shit outta Billy. What a terrible guy!

I have a feeling pope will turn on Smurf, she needs to be humbled. Too ruthless and crazy!

And, yeah, deran is an idiot. Billy is an addict who is desperate for cash, he should have known better.

14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

 

 

 

 

In a war between Lucy and Smurf there can be only one winner and it's not Lucy. Marco might end up being the "lucky" one.

Yup. Smurf will last but I hope she gets punished. J is up to something and I think s4 will be the last season. So j takes his revenge in a slow burn kinda way. Smurf doesn't know he's angry inside; he'll be vengeful!

Edited August 1, 2018 by Gsallo

[iMonrey]

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Smurf will last but I hope she gets punished. 

Seeing as she spent most of this season languishing in prison I doubt there's much more punishment in store for her at this point. I don't know why but I'm totally rooting for her to take Lucy down. Smurf with the purse full of peanut butter is the Smurf I enjoy watching, not Smurf in the orange jumpsuit. 

Seems like she knew the whole thing with Billy would eventually play itself out because she didn't do anything much to get rid of him. She just knew he'd flake on Deran sooner or later and that Deran would see his true colors. 

I don't know why the hell she would allow Frankie to keep freeloading off her though. Or why Frankie assumed she'd be cool hanging there once Billy was gone. Seems like kind of a far-fetched way of keeping the actress/character around. 

[Dowel Jones]

Frankie is probably thinking of getting tied in with Craig, which may be the reason for the Renn storyline cropping up.  Because they certainly need some more drama.

Is Pope a nickname?  Smurf called him Andrew.

That was an interesting scene between J and Smurf's attorney.  He almost came off as threatening her.  Maybe he meant it to mean that she could make some money independently of Smurf, but she knows where the power lies.

7 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

There has always been a subtle incest vibe.

Subtle?

[Raja]

With Nikki probably written out and Smurf giving a pre-approval to Mia it seems like she wants some girls in house to service her boys. I guess that  Frankie would be better than bringing in a wildcard. Smurf herself fresh from jail immediately took Billy to her bed.

[Chaos Theory]

43 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Is Pope a nickname?  Smurf called him Andrew.

Yeah it’s a nickname just like Baz is a nickname.  His name I think is Barry.  And I think J is nickname too.  I am not sure but I think his name is Joshua.

 

43 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

 

Subtle?

Well since there is no actual incest yeah.  It’s more emotional then physical anyway.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[lazylou]

I too wondered about a realtor taking a kid seriously about buying a 900k property for cash, though that run down bowling alley fits in nicely with the type of thing used in the show "The Ozarks."   (Of course J cannot possibly have that much cash, though he probably does still have some cash squirreled away from previous jobs...from Baz's theft of the locker, the yacht, the church, even the bit he may have gotten for his part in the big first season job.  The only thing he has ever really bought is the truck.) I think he is considering his cut of the 7 mil Smurf plans to bring back from Mexico.  Just how he expects to get it, I do not know, but he does have Mia out following Smurf.  He may think he will go with her to get even with Lucy.  And now I think Pope will go too, now that Lena is gone and he is back "on the tit."   (That title has to be intended ironically...  Both Deran and Pope are back in Mama's house...and  Craig never left. )

I wondered about his threat to the lawyer...Threats are certainly the Cody MO, but I wonder if the lawyer would take him seriously.  On the other hand, he is potentially her client of the future.

Was he telling Mia he could clean $15,000 a month at the laundromat, that he would pay her $15,000 a month, or that that was the total income from the laundry currently? Can't be the first, but Mia has certainly hopped to do his bidding.  This makes it so clear what he sees in her!

And Lucy will just leave the cattle to wander?  Looking at all the cocaine she was having hauled across the border, I wondered why she had even bothered about all those watches, etc. I wonder if Smurf  knows how big Licy's operation has become.

[Dowel Jones]

Something occurred to me relative to the laundering operation.  There's at least 5-6 casinos within a easy drive from Oceanside.  Why not take a few grand to each one every few days and buy some chips.  One brother could buy some, another one could cash them in, staying under the IRS reporting amount, of course, and drive back to town with clean money.  The false front businesses would certainly be more efficient in the long run, but you also have all the headaches of running a business just to make it look good. 

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, Dowel Jones said:

Something occurred to me relative to the laundering operation.  There's at least 5-6 casinos within a easy drive from Oceanside.  Why not take a few grand to each one every few days and buy some chips.  One brother could buy some, another one could cash them in, staying under the IRS reporting amount, of course, and drive back to town with clean money.  The false front businesses would certainly be more efficient in the long run, but you also have all the headaches of running a business just to make it look good. 

The casino money wouldn't be any "cleaner" than the original stolen money was.  The whole point of "laundering" money is to set up some legitimate source of income, which the casino money would not provide, unless you had receipts for winning that money and declaring it as income (which would require full collusion from the casino itself).  That's why they buy businesses that take in mostly cash, then they just run some extra dirty cash through the business, and it becomes clean income that can be reported.  You have to make it look good and pretend to earn money from a job/business, or the authorities start to wonder how you can afford such expensive toys and a lifestyle when you're a jobless surf bum.  Being a successful crook is hard work!

[iMonrey]

Quote

Is Pope a nickname?  Smurf called him Andrew.

And it's never been explained, nor was it in the movie. At least they addressed why Janine is called "Smurf" last season. 

Quote

but he does have Mia out following Smurf.  He may think he will go with her to get even with Lucy.  

I didn't catch that the first time around. I guess he just wants to know what Smurf is up to; I can't see him trying to stop her from going after Lucy and the money. 

Quote

With Nikki probably written out and Smurf giving a pre-approval to Mia it seems like she wants some girls in house to service her boys. 

I'm beginning to see why they wrote Nikki out and basically replaced her with Mia. J is really turning into a hardcore bad-ass at this point. He's grown so far beyond someone like Nikki that now he needs a girlfriend who's a little more competent about criminal activity. 

However, I don't see the point of Frankie at all. Craig already has a story going with Renn. It seems to me more like the show is just trying to find some excuse to add Dichen Lachman to the cast. She keeps turning up everywhere like a bad penny. I'm so tired of TV trying to make her happen.

Quote

That was an interesting scene between J and Smurf's attorney.  He almost came off as threatening her.  Maybe he meant it to mean that she could make some money independently of Smurf, but she knows where the power lies.

I didn't read it as a threat - in fact the other way around, I thought he was basically acknowledging that she's too smart to turn her back on more potential income for herself out of loyalty to Smurf. This was another scene that showed how much J has embraced the criminal life and how much smarter he is about it than most of the other Codys. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by iMonrey

[lazylou]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

 I guess he just wants to know what Smurf is up to; I can't see him trying to stop her from going after Lucy and the money. 

 

 

No, I don't think he will try to stop Smurf from going after Lucy.  I think he will somehow try to be involved, so he can get a share of the money. I agree that the reason for Frankie's addition to the cast is puzzling.  But I did not understand the reason Mia was added either, until now.  Nice was a burden on J; Mia could be an asset (and a danger, too.)

Edited August 2, 2018 by lazylou

[fellini]

Those rats were having a feast. =)